Blue Pen, made in collaboration with filmpro and Vital Xposure, was an experimental short film about censorship and the disappearance of dissenting voices. The film pays particular attention to the voices of women journalists in conflict zones.

“Blue pen” is a casual term coined in WWI to describe the heavy edits and careful monitoring of the censorship committee. In 1916 all information was carefully controlled to support the war effort and to create hatred and suspicion of the enemy.

In 2016 the ‘spin’ might well have changed but we still have propaganda published as fact, reportage used to shape public opinion and the truth as always is the first casualty.

Written by Julie McNamara
Directed by Julie McNamara & Caglar Kimyoncu
Produced by Chas de Swiet & Vital Xposure
Filmed by Zeynep Dagli
Edited by Caglar Kimyoncu & Zeynep Dagli
Sound Design Theo Holloway
Cast Penelope Freeman, Matthew Gurney, Gareth Turkington, Simon Balcon, Suni La, Rhiannon Kelly
BSL interpreter Catrin Thomas
Audio description Alison Clarke
Music ‘The Ballad of Dorothy Lawrence’ by Lorraine Jordan
Installation Produced by Crin Claxton
Set Build by Richard Rudnicki
With thanks to the people of Paziols, Cafe Six and Les Darling Artistes.
a filmpro and vital xposure collaboration
funded by arts council england